Gee-Gees down Paladins 3-1, improve record to 14-1

Gee-Gees down Paladins 3-1, improve record to 14-1

Team Stats

January 26, 2013

In their penultimate home game of the regular season, the Gee-Gees women's volleyball team hosted the RMC Paladins on January 26 at Montpetit Hall. While RMC gave the Gee-Gees all they could handle, uOttawa came out victorious after four sets, 3-1. Ottawa remains in first place in the OUA with an impressive 14-1 record, with just three games left in the season.

"We needed a win and we needed to get ready for tomorrow and we did both those things. We played a lot of different players and it can be a bit hard to keep the rhythm going," said Gee-Gees head coach Lionel Woods. "Kudos to RMC because they played hard all match, but we were able to mix things up on offence and we got it done in the end."

The Gee-Gees forced the Paladins to take an early timeout in the first set, as Ottawa led 6-1 behind fourth-year setter Christina Grail and third-year outside hitter Karina Krueger Schwanke's crisp serving. uOttawa used their height advantage to extend the lead to 13-1, with sophomores Colleen Morelli and Alix Durivage earning easy points at the net. However, the Paladins' offence finally woke up, cutting Ottawa's lead to 13-6, before the Gee-Gees pulled away for good in the first set. uOttawa won the first set 25-12, thanks to an efficient offence that had a kill percentage of 0.310.

After RMC scored the first point of the second set, Schwanke put together some jaw-dropping plays, scoring Ottawa's next four points via three kills and an ace. The Paladins showed tremendous determination on defence, earning numerous diving digs, as they trailed just 12-8 at the mid-point of the second set. However, Ottawa's continuous barrage of thunderous attacks simply wore out the Paladins, as the Gee-Gees scored ten straight points to put the game out of reach. The Gee-Gees earned a 25-9 victory in the second set.

Third-year outside hitter Kayla Bell-Hammond had a stellar game for the Gee-Gees, as she earned two kills in the second set and four out of the Gee-Gees' first six points in the third set. The Paladins played with much energy in the third set, as the Gee-Gees called a timeout after RMC pulled off a mini-run to tie the set at 13-all. RMC took their biggest lead of the match at 21-17, and survived a Gee-Gees' comeback attempt as they won the third set 25-22.

While the Paladins were able to carry their momentum into the fourth set for a while, the Gee-Gees were able to re-take the lead at 12-11 and played just well enough to earn a 25-22 victory of their own. Schwanke scored eight points in the fourth set to lead all players.

"The third set is always a battle and our serve-receive broke down a little bit so it was a bit of a challenge, but we'll keep working on finishing," said Morelli. "Against Queen's, we need play some good defence and try to shut down their big hitters. We're going to try and bring our "A" game for sure."

uOttawa will host the Queen's Gaels tomorrow at Montpetit Hall in a rematch of the 2012 OUA Gold Medal match.

1 2 3 4 Final

RMC 12 9 25 22 1

Gee-Gees 25 25 22 25 3

Gee-Gees leading players: Karina Krueger Schwanke 14 kills, 16 digs,

Colleen Morelli 7 kills, 7 digs

RMC leading players: Mallory Litjens 12 kills, 3 blocks, Norah Collins 9 kills, 18 digs